"You'll never get into Harvard," I remember my English teacher chuckling.

It was if my expression of interest in the university had been the punchline of a joke.

Yes, it was devastating to hear. But it was the motivation I needed.

Less than a year later, I was fortunate enough to open up a letter from Harvard Dean of Admissions William Fitzsimmons informing me that I had been accepted to one of the most prestigious universities in the world.

I was completely floored as I read the words "Congratulations" at the top of my letter. I couldn't believe my luck, and was certain they had made a mistake.

That nagging doubt constantly lingered in the back of my mind during my freshman year at Harvard.

Why had I been chosen over thousands of other students who probably deserved this more than me?

Who made the decision that I belonged at Harvard?

What was I supposed to uniquely add to the incoming class?

What was the secret to my acceptance?

As a Harvard student, you are allowed to view your admissions file by submitting a Student Records request . I did this out of curiosity, and was shocked by what I saw.

In this post, I'll share what I learned about my own personal admissions journey, as well as the metrics that Harvard uses to evaluate and rank candidates. Hopefully this gives you a better sense of how you'll be evaluated, and sheds some light on this mysterious process.

But first, some context:

Harvard assigns each applicant a numerical score (1–6) across four metrics (Academics, Extracurriculars, Athletics, and Personal Qualities), your teacher and school counselor recommendations, and your interview performance.

A score of 1 is the "best," while a 6 is the "worst." See this Quora post from an alumni interviewer for more context on what scoring a “1” means/how rare it is.

According to my admissions file, it was my interview and my essay that distinguished my application and secured my acceptance to Harvard.

A) Interview

A screenshot of my Harvard Alumni Interview write-up is below.

My interview went extremely well, way better than I could have possibly dreamed.

At the time I didn’t think much of it — the conversation had flowed naturally and I thought I made a good impression, but I didn’t realize just how well I had done until looking at my admissions file several years later while a student at Harvard.

Overall, my interviewer remarked that I was probably the “most exceptional” candidate she’d seen in almost a decade of interviewing, highlighting in particular my “intellectual curiosity, internal drive, and creativity.” There were three main themes she highlighted in her write-up:

(1) Structure: In particular, I think that she liked the structured way I answered her questions. I had spent the week prior practicing how to walk through my resume by telling a story, linking everything I’d done into one coherent narrative.

Multiple times in my write-up, she remarked how impressive my “structured thinking and organization” had been during the interview. And while she did note that this could come across as overly rehearsed, she thought that the enthusiasm I showed meant that this structure served me well during the interview.

(2) Coherent Narrative: She also highlighted my ability to synthesize the various fields I was interested in or had done in high school (e.g. debate, research internships at national labs, academic summer camps) into Harvard-specific goals.

For example, I had done a lot of debate and STEM research in high school, and so one of my goals was to work at the intersection of technology and policy after graduating. Tying this back to Harvard, I mentioned the Berkman Center for Internet and Policy as a resource I’d love to take advantage of, as it is one of the foremost research centers on Internet policy in the nation.

She highlighted my ability to “synthesi[ze]” my interests, future goals, and past experience as “especially stand-out,” and I think this ability to tie my life’s story up to that point into one big arrow pointing at Harvard was the key in earning such a favorable rating.

(3) Easy Flow of Conversation: By keeping the conversation constantly flowing and turning the interview into a dialogue with my interviewer, I was able to keep her engaged and invested in our conversation.

For example, I had looked up my interviewer beforehand, so I knew that she worked in healthcare policy. So, when she asked me about my interest in statistics and math, after answering her question I then flipped it and asked her how these subjects factored into her day-to-day work on health policy.

After she mentioned a research report on health insurance, I piggy-backed on her comments by mentioning a few news articles I’d read recently about the same topic, and we had a great back-and-forth on how her time at Harvard shaped her desire to go into health policy, and what she wished she had done more of as an undergrad to prepare her for her current role.

Doing research beforehand was incredibly valuable, as it ensured that I would always have something to say/ask her about whenever there was a lull in conversation. Above all, however, my main advice (in addition to researching your interviewer beforehand) is to just be a normal, social, affable human being like you normally are.

B) Essays

I was very proud of my Common App essay, as I thought I did an effective job of capturing why I was interested in both Statistics and the intersection of technology with law/public policy.

If you want direct feedback on your essays from Harvard students, or want to work 1-on-1 with an experienced mentor to craft your application, visit us here.

I purposely tried to make my supplemental essays much more light-hearted/humorous to showcase that aspect of my personality, and I think that helped round me out as an applicant, especially as someone applying with a more traditional STEM background.

I wrote, edited, and revised my essays over the span of about 6 months.

The first 4 of those months were spent writing a dozen or so drafts that I ended up scrapping completely, but going through that process and getting feedback on my essays was essential for channeling the mindset of an admissions officer and making sure that I hit all the right notes in the final version I submitted.

In this post, we'll clear up your confusion about all things Ivy: the Ivy League, Potted/Little Ivies, Public Ivies, and how Stanford/MIT fit in.

1. The Ivy League

The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprised of 8 private universities located in the Northeast.

Listed roughly in order of prestige, they are:

1. Harvard
2. Yale
3. Princeton
4. Columbia
5. University of Pennsylvania
6. Dartmouth
7. Brown
8. Cornell

These schools are all highly selective, have huge endowments , and have a reputation for being the best universities in the US. Brown has the smallest endowment at $3.6 billion, while Harvard has the largest at $38 billion.

Their graduates go on to become Presidents, Supreme Court Justices, Nobel Prize winners, celebrities, media titans, and billionaires.

They are also some of the most historic colleges in the US - all were founded before the US was even a country with the exception of Cornell (1865). In fact, Harvard was the first institution of higher learning established in the US way back in 1636, over 100 years before the Revolutionary War.

2. HYPSM

MIT and Stanford are equally as competitive as the most prestigious of Ivy League colleges. (Image Source)

There are also colleges that are not technically "Ivy League" but have a reputation for being equally as good, if not better than, the true Ivies.

You’ll frequently hear "HYPSM" being used to refer to the 5 "best" colleges in America. The “HYP” is Harvard/Yale/Princeton, while the “SM” are:

1. Stanford
2. MIT

3. "Public" Ivies

The original list of "Public Ivies" published in 1985. (Image Source)

Additionally, there are several public state colleges known as "Public Ivies" due to their strong record of research and academic excellence.

They are also often cheaper for in-state applicants than the Ivies. The term was first coined in 1985 by UCSC Dean of Admissions Richard Moll to describe the following schools :

1. University of California
2. University of Virginia
3. College of William & Mary
4. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
5. University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
6. University of Texas - Austin
7. Miami University of Ohio
8. University of Vermont

4. "Potted" or "Little" Ivies

Like the Ivy League, the Little Ivies are all located in the Northeast. (Image Source)

Finally, the "Potted/Little Ivies" are a collection of small liberal arts colleges located in the Northeast.

While a step down from the Ivies in terms of reputation, they are still very strong academically, and are known to be more student-focused than Ivy League colleges due to their smaller size.

They belong to their own athletic conference , the NESCAC, and are as follows:

1. Amherst College
2. Bates College
3. Bowdoin College
4. Colby College
5. Connecticut College
6. Hamilton College
7. Middlebury College
8. Trinity College
9. Tufts University
10. Wesleyan University
11. Williams College

Hopefully this helps shed some light on what other students, parents, and college counselors mean when discussing the "Ivies."

Every tourist goes on a campus tour, wanders through Harvard Yard, and rubs John Harvard’s foot.

They don’t know what they’re missing.

There are a lot of great spots on Harvard’s campus that tourists don’t really know about, and are much more relaxed, beautiful, and chill than the usual tour stops.

My favorite underrated, publicly accessible places at Harvard are (in no particular order):

A view of Eliot House (an undergraduate dorm) from across the Charles River (Image Source)

1. The Charles River

Taking a stroll down the Charles River front can be a beautiful experience during the spring, summer, and fall. Walking along the River near campus, you’ll be able to see most of the River Houses (e.g. Eliot, Dunster, Winthrop). Crossing the River will get you to the Business School, which has even more beautiful architecture and grassy lawns than the red brick undergraduate dorms across the River.

Food trucks and tables full of students studying between classes crowd the Science Center Plaza at noon. (Image Source)

2. The Science Center Plaza

There’s seemingly always something happening on the Plaza, whether its the bevy of delicious food trucks selling lunch every day or the random events that Harvard hosts as part of its Common Spaces initiative. There’s also a local farmer’s market every week, and many student organizations host events/activities in the Plaza. If you come at the right time you might stumble on something fun happening!

A collection of Enlightenment-era scientific instruments which helped revolutionize humanity’s understanding of the world, on display in the Science Center (Image Source)

3. The Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments.

Hidden in the Science Center, this small museum has a really cool assortment of scientific instruments that you won’t be able to find anywhere else. It’s usually pretty empty and not many students even know about it, so definitely recommend checking out this hidden gem while on campus.

Radcliffe Yard (Image Source)

4. Radcliffe Yard.

This is where Admissions tours are handled, so you may stumble across this picturesque part of Harvard’s campus anyway. If not, I definitely recommend walking through Radcliffe Yard. I have never seen such perfectly manicured lawns in my life. It used to be Radcliffe College before the two institutions merged to become just “Harvard.” Now, it is the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. (Note: Some students incorrectly refer to this as the “Radcliffe Quad.” It is not, however, the same as the “Quad” that most Harvard students reference — the other “Quad” is a 15 minute walk away, and houses upperclass dorms).

Langdell Hall, the Law School’s main library, is the largest academic law library in the world and the largest building on the Law School campus. (Image Source)

5. Law School / Business School campus

Though on opposite ends of campus (the Law School is north of Harvard Yard, while the Business School is across the Charles River to the south of campus), it would be a mistake not to visit these two graduate school campuses while visiting Harvard College. You won’t be able to enter the buildings, but the lawns and campus spaces are beautiful to walk through nonetheless.

Artifact on display in Harvard’s Peabody Museum. (Image Source)

6. The Peabody Museum

This is more widely known, but most tour groups don’t stop by there for some reason. One of the world’s oldest museums focusing on anthropology, you should make sure you check out the Peabody’s world famous archaeological exhibits while you’re on campus.

Glass flowers on display at the Harvard Museum of Natural History (Image Source)

7. Harvard Museum of Natural History

This museum houses arguably the most famous exhibit on Harvard’s campus, Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka’s “Glass Flowers.” The exhibit is a collection of over 4,300 meticulously crafted glass replications of over 780 plant species. Again, most students won’t take advantage of this during their time at Harvard, but having gone I can say with 100% confidence that you’ll be missing out if you don’t pay this exhibit a visit.

Portrait of President George Washington, housed in the Harvard Art Museum. (Image Source)

8. Harvard Art Museum

Harvard technically has three separate art museums (the Fogg, Busch-Reisinger, and Sackler). However, their collections were combined into one building, and thus functionally they are the same museum. The Harvard Art Museum is a beautiful building, and is usually pretty quiet — students usually only come there to study, attend lectures in the basement, or look at art for a seminar. There aren’t a ton of publicly displayed pieces, but the collection spans several floors and can make for an enjoyable afternoon.